Pepper’s Place cafe inside old Liverpool Library forced to close

A beloved southwest Sydney community cafe is in a battle for survival after claims staff were given no warning to vacate their premises after the new library opened.

Pepper's Place inside the old Liverpool Library.

A beloved southwest Sydney community cafe is in a battle for survival after claims Liverpool Coucil failed to give staff warning to vacate their premises after the new library opened.

Pepper’s Place, run by Liverpool Neighborhood Connections which provided employment and training for more than 20 women experiencing disadvantage, operated out of the old Liverpool City Library on George St for seven years.

But when the council opened the 5000sq m library and community hub at Scott St on December 3, the social enterprise cafe was denied tenancy and was forced to look elsewhere.

Pam Ellis, Pat Hall, Lisa Buchanan and Angie McConkey, who used to work at Pepper's Place in the old Liverpool Library.

Liverpool Neighborhood Connections chief executive Pat Hall said she was “disheartened” because there was no consultation from the council about whether the cafe would be transferred into the new building.

“We were never consulted and we didn’t have a meeting with council about whether they would take us into the new library - I just received a letter from council in October saying we needed to vacate,” she said.

“We were never given a reason, I just heard from the workers who said the library won’t have a cafe in there because there will be a cafe on street level when it’s all finished.”

Mrs Hall said the cafe was a “place for training up women and we’ve lost that now”.

“It’s very disheartening as they (council) knows what we do to help Liverpool women and all the money we raise goes back into the community.”

Pepper's Place inside the old Liverpool Library.

While the council offered Pepper’s Place the kitchen at the Michael Wenden Aquatic Leisure Centre at Miller, Ms Hall said it was “set up to fail” because there was not enough foot traffic during weekdays.

She said paying her staff weekend rates would “send us broke”.

“In the last year I’ve paid out around $240,000 in wages and over 5000 hours of work to women, but it wouldn’t be feasible at the (Michael Wenden) centre,” she said.

Mrs Hall said it was impossible to find a new place to set up Pepper’s Place because the group was paying “barely $50 a week” at the library and other spaces were for more than $3000 a month.

“I can’t find anything that we could afford and that means I have to get rent, wages and food. It’s a bridge too hard to climb,” she said.

Analisa Randall has worked with Pat Hall for a decade with Pepper's Place.

The women who worked at Pepper’s Cafe have moved to other Liverpool Connections projects, including the Warwick Farm cafe, as Mrs Hall considers setting up a coffee cart at her clothing donations store on Northumberland St in Liverpool.

“I feel like I’m wrecking these women’s Christmas because I’m taking hours off them and it’s just sad to think that nobody came to us and told us we’d be closing,” she said.

“I can use our clothing shop and put in a coffee machine but it won’t be a training opportunity like in the library and the beauty of it was women came from all cultures and it was a safe place for them to learn and grow.”

Liverpool Council has been contacted for comment.